Sindhu's trump match & Chris Adcock's heroics help Chennai blast their opponents 5-0

IT WAS THE first tie of the Mumbai leg between Chennai Smashers and Bengaluru Blasters. A southern derby and what a tie to witness. With some crazy display of matches once again from the doubles category just kept the crowd going till the very end.

Finally with the help of PV Sindhu's trump win and Chris Adcock's stunning performance, Chennai beat Bengaluru 5-0.

The first match was between Parupalli Kashyap and Sourabh Verma. As expected, this was an exciting match as Sourabh pushed Kashyap to his limits after trailing at the interval. He didn't let his senior compatriot get to his points easily.

But Kashyap being the veteran, took the first game 11-8, thanks to few errors caused by Sourabh.

The second game too saw similar kind of attack from both the shuttlers and did the result. Kashyap clearly showing that he is slowly regaining his fitness and rhythm. Won the second game 11-5.

Next came the Trump match for Chennai Smashers as PV Sindhu was up against Cheung Ngan of Bengaluru. As the first game began, all Sindhu fans were holding onto their seats as the Indian lost 5 straight points. But then after the interval, Sindhu proved her metal and came back strong to shut down Cheung to win the game 12-10.

Similar start to the second game, trailing initially and then coming back to lead at the interval. From there on it was no looking back from the Olympic Silver medallist. Winning the game 11-6. This win gave Chennai Smashers a massive lead of 3-0.

"This was a good game for me. Though I conceded a lead in both the game, I came back strong. I am happy to get my first win of the season. Against Marin too, I won the first game, but she bounced back wonderfully. In this match, I didn't look to change much, but stick to my aggressive style of play," Sindhu said after her win.

"It took me some time to get used to the format, but now everything seems to be under control. I am comfortable playing the 11-point format, and hopefully can win some more matches for my team," she added.

Then came the turn of mixed doubles, the Adcock couple against Ashwini Ponnappa/Yoo Yeon. Chris and Gabby had a chance here to seal the tie for their team. This match had mixed reactions as the Adcock couple were tested by Ashwini/Yoo. Winning the first game, they gave the Blasters pair room to get back in the match and push it for a decider.

This turned out to be a mouth watering encounter. The final game was out of the world as it had great smashes, techniques, amazing shots from both the teams. It went down to the wire, as it was neck-to-neck till the last point. Sudden death decided the winner as it went on till 14-14, both the pairs giving it their all. The crowd pumped up and so were the teams as Blasters knew this was their chance to get back in the tie.

But something was just not enough for the Ashwini/Yoo after playing such a high voltage match. The last point went in favour of the Adcock couple and that point gave their team the tie. Their first win of the league.

But to garner some points, Blasters had two chances from the remaining two matches. And Viktor Axelsen did just what was expected of him. They say, there's always a first time and it was proven here. Tommy Sugiarto lost his first match in PBL, courtesy the great Dane.

Tommy did fight it hard and made the Dane sweat for points but with some great smashes and returns, Axelsen took the match in his favour, 11-7, 13-11. This put the first point on board for the Blasters.

The final match was Trump for Bengaluru between the men's doubles shuttlers. And the Smashers pair of Chris/Mads Kolding were on the verge cutting out some points as they won the first game 11-7 putting the Blasters pair of Ko Sung/Yoo Yeong under immense pressure. Crucial points were on the line for the Blasters.

Sung/Yoo were very well aware of that and came back strong and returned the Smashers pair the favour, winning second game 11-7 forcing for a decider. But Chris and Kolding wanted those points and have a straight sweep at their opponents. And it so happened. A replay of the mixed doubles match, going down the wire and the Smashers pair winning it 13-11. Trump match loss meant a 0-5 loss for the Bengaluru Blasters.

Chris's heroics in both men's and mixed doubles helped Chennai taste 5-0 victory over their opponents.

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